1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a treatment for hemorrhoids.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a hemorrhoid inflammation reducing device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hemorrhoids are simply varicose veins in the anal canal. They may come and go and almost everyone has them at one time or another. They are very common in pregnancy and occur in two locations.
Those occurring above the internal sphincter are called internal hemorrhoids and those appearing outside the external sphincter are called external hemorrhoids.
Hemorrhoids cause itching, bleeding and pain. Internal hemorrhoids prolapse frequently through the sphincter and cause considerable discomfort. If the blood within them clots and becomes infected, they become painful and the risk of a thrombosis becomes present.
The primary complications of hemorrhoids are bleeding, strangulation, and thrombosis. Trauma to the vein during defecation can cause enough bleeding to produced an iron deficiency anemia. Blood oozes or may even spurt out following a bowel movement.
Thrombosis, or clotting of the blood within the hemorrhoid, can occur at any time and is manifested by intense pain.
Prolapsed hemorrhoids may come out during defecation and spontaneously return. Prolapsed hemorrhoids may have to be returned by the patient or they may remain prolapsed.
A strangulated hemorrhoid is a prolapsed hemorrhoid in which the blood supply is cut off by the anal sphincter. The blood within the prolapsed hemorrhoid becomes clotted and thrombosis occurs which is a very painful condition that brings extreme edema and inflammation.
The treatment methods range from warm baths through ointments and suppositories to surgery or injection chemotherapy to control the bleeding and to eliminate the varicose veins. Often several methods are combined to address various aspects of the disease.
Three treatments are commonly used for the treatment of hemorrhoids a color, they are medical management, surgical excision, or laser surgery of the dilated veins and injection of a sclerosing substance into the tissues at the base of the vein. The injection of the sclerosing substance may be only temporarily effective.
Medical therapy, used only for small hemorrhoids with mild symptoms, includes reducing pressure by treating the constipation and thus keeping the stools soft. Pain is relieved with sitz baths, application of heat, and astringent lotions, such as witch hazel. A recumbent position may be needed if the hemorrhoid is prolapsed or thrombosed.
The surgical excision is done by digital dilation of the rectal sphincter and removal of the hemorrhoids by the use of a clamp and cautery or by ligation and excision. After completion of the operation procedures, a small tube, often covered with petrolatum gauze, is inserted through the sphincter to permit the escape of flatus and also of blood.
Instead of the tube, some surgeons place pieces of Gelfoam or Oxycel gauze over the anal wounds. Dressings in such cases are held in place by a T-binder. The area is either left open to heal by granulation or sutured very painfully for the patient but has a high rate of success, whereas the sutured method, while far less painful, is more likely to cause infection and fails to heal well. The surgical excision and new laser surgery on a patient is usually repeated over and over again on a regular basis, which can become incovenient.
Hemorrhoids have plagued humans from time immemorial, particularly adult humans. Hemorrhoids are a livid and painful swelling formed by vein dilation in the anal cavity or rectum. Many treatments have been deviced over the years, including chemical, thermal, electrical and surgical. Some involving elaborate treatment procedures and others somewhat drastic, and some of those already mentioned having possible damaging side effects. Many of the prior art techniques require administration by trained technicians or, in some cases, even physicians.
As long ago as 1869 Schevenell et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 77,539 proposed an instrument for treating piles or hemorrhoids involving a tapered hollow electrode of different metals to provide galvanic action when brought into contact with the body fluids. This was claimed to reduce the rectal inflammation. The electrode was inserted into the rectal cavity and held in place for several hours in order to achieve the asserted beneficial treatment.
Another unsuccessful attempt was proposed by Cowie in U.S. Pat. No. 969,134 dated August 30, 1910 who suggested the use of a hollow device, presumably of metal, having a removable screw cap so that crushed ice or other freezing, cooling, or heating medium could be employed. The device of Cowie, albeit some forty or more years after Schevenell et al., did not advance the technology, but rather had the same drawbacks and deficiencies as the proposal of Schevenell et al.
One approach to the treatment was to relieve the pain and to diminish the swelling by cooling the hemorrhoidal tissue. For instance, Cowie in U.S. Pat. No. 969,134 suggested the use of hollow inserts filled with crushed ice or other cooling medium, which was refilled for every use.
More recently, Harris in U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,842 suggested a plastic rectal insert containing an encapsulated freezable liquid, preferrably water, and being equipped with a bulbous collapsible end.
Suppositories cannot be used for the cooling effect because of their shape. The pressure of the sphincter squeezes them immediately from the rectal canal into the botton of the colon. This holds true even for hydrogel suppositories, as described by Byrne and Aylott in U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,300, which could have otherwise sufficient heat capacity due to the relatively high water content.